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Clinton: Condoms are key in AIDS fight

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AIDS-related deaths have dropped more than 25% over the last six years, U.N. says

About 1.1 million people in the U.S. live with HIV, the CDC says

Roughly 50,000 people contract the virus each year

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday unveiled what she described as a "blueprint" to guide global efforts in wiping out the AIDS virus, focusing on improving treatment and prevention practices to "get ahead of the pandemic."

The initiative is part of a plan to "usher in an AIDS-free generation," said Clinton, who hailed a 200% increase in U.S.-funded antiretroviral drug treatments since 2008.

Clinton announced the plan, officially titled the "President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-free Generation," at the State Department, two days ahead of World AIDS Day. She was joined by Eric Goosby, U.S. global AIDS coordinator.

"We can reach a point where virtually no children are born with the virus," Clinton said, adding that the plan also aims to further reduce transmission rates and increase access to medical treatment for those who are already infected.

The program is also expected to address gender inequities that she said puts women and girls at a higher risk of contracting the virus.

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Door-to-door battle against HIV

AIDS-related deaths have dropped more than 25% over the last six years, and countries with some of the highest rates of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) -- which leads to AIDS -- are now seeing substantial drops in mortality rates, according to a recent report by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS.

"The pace of progress is quickening -- what used to take a decade is now being achieved in 24 months," said Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS. "We are scaling up faster and smarter than ever before. It is the proof that with political will and follow-through, we can reach our shared goals by 2015."

New HIV infections have dropped more than 50% in 25 low- and middle-income countries.

In traditionally hard-hit places like Malawi and Botswana, the rates of new infections have dropped 73% and 71%, respectively.

And yet while nearly a quarter of new cases in the United States are found in young people, more than half of them do not know they are infected, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.